Who Would Your Match Be?

Having just finally read Lois Lowery's The Giver, I knew I had to read the book recommended to me as "a romantic Giver". Ally Condie's breakout dystopian/utopian novel Matched challenges all we know about life, questions, and choices. Very similar to The Giver's false utopia, this world has done everything to make sure there is no pain, no confusion, and no choices. But in taking away our ability to choose, have they also taken away our ability to live?

Cassia is excited about her Match Banquet. Here she will meet the man she will eventually marry. He will be from another city, but through interactions monitored by Officials, she will get to know him and they will eventually start a family. In Cassia's world, the Officials have created a life where no one has to make choices. The food they eat, what they wear, where they live, the jobs they do, and even the people they marry, are all choices carefully made by sorters who evaluate data in order to assign choices for everything. Food is delivered every day prepackaged and ready to eat. Even the waste they throw into their disposal is monitored to make sure it is the right amount and proper density compared to the amount of food and products they are given. Without any choices to make, people can't make the wrong choices.

Something strange happens at Cassia's Match Banquet. She is assigned to Xander, he best friend. Usually Matches occur with people from other cities, but she got someone in Mapletree Borough. Cassia is excited, but the situation means they won't have the typical courting scenario since they already know each other. Still, Cassia gets the box with Xander's card in it and plugs it into her portscreen to read the information about Xander, but it isn't Xander's card- it's Ky's- another boy from town. While Cassia knows this was a mistake, she still can't stop thinking about Ky, especially when she learns of his status in the society- Ky Markham is an Aberration. Aberrations are outsiders within the society. They can live and work in the Boroughs, but they aren't given important jobs and aren't allowed to Match. They aren't dangerous like Anomalies, who aren't allowed to live in the Boroughs, but they aren't exactly accepted either.

Ky's status intrigues Cassia, and when they are put together in the new hiking group for free time, she grows to really enjoy his company. In fact, Ky is the only person she shares the illegal poem her grandfather gave her before he was released (everyone is "released" at the age of 80). The poem, "Do Not Go Gentle" by Dylan Thomas keeps swirling around in Cassia's head. It is not part of the Hundred Poems (the Society has only saved 100 poems, 100 paintings, etc. Everything else was destroyed and the people of the society are only allowed to view the 100 that have been deemed appropriate). In fact, it is dangerous for her to even know about the poem, but she can't forget about it since her grandfather gave it to her. And Ky understands why. The poem, Ky, and so much more are making Cassie question the Society and the lack of choices. She knows why the Society has created the world she lives in, but she isn't as willing to accept it's rules anymore. She likes Xander, but she starts to love Ky. She is angry about losing her grandfather, and hates that the Officials can come into her home and take anything they want. She chooses to Not Go Gentle. She wants to Rage, Rage Against the Dying of the Light.

Cassia has become exactly what the Society has worked hard to eliminate- a young woman who wants to make her own choices. I am so intrigued by the thin line between utopia and dystopia. A utopia is always flawed and therefore teeters on the edge of a dystopia, such as in Matched. A dystopia may be a horrible new world, but there is always hope, always someone willing to stand up to the tyranny. This story is beautifully written and will make you appreciate each and every choice you make- including the ones that might seem difficult at the time. While choices might not always be easy or fun, they are still ours to own and be responsible for. Sure it might be easier not to have to decide what to wear everyday, but where does it stop? Where does giving up control become too much lost?

This is an amazing book filled with deep questions and budding romance. You can feel Cassia's dilemma between Xander who has always been her friend and confidante, and Ky who just knows her. Both young men are great people, so you don't even know who you want her to choose! But in the end, we all have to ask ourselves, how many choices are we willing to give up? If we were Cassia, would we be willing to continue our humdrum lives with Xander, or slip into the vast unknown with Ky? Give this story a shot... after all, it is your Choice to Make!

The Giver of a Story You Can't Forget

There aren't many people out there who haven't read Lois Lowry's classic, The Giver, but I happened to be one of them. Then I talked to my longtime friend (since 2nd grade!) who I often share great YA titles with (and a love for cheesy RomComs) and she told me The Giver was a book that she read in middle school that stayed with her. She still thought about the book 20 years later (god we are getting old). So, I decided I had to quit being a turd and do my YA collection justice with this 1994 Newberry winner. After finishing it in one voracious sitting, I had to ask myself if I would ever learn. I avoided Percy Jackson for years- did I learn? I refused to read Harry Potter, Twilight, and so many more for no other reason than they were popular. Now The Giver. Will I ever learn?! Why do I deprive myself of great stories?

The story begins in a utopia. No one feels pain, no one is unhappy. Any feelings of anger, jealousy or concern are to be voiced in family units every morning in order to address and release them. Children are not born and raised with their parents. Instead, a sensible couple the community puts together is allowed to ask for children and they can receive up to one boy and one girl. Only Birth Mothers are allowed to have children, but since all the community members take drugs to inhibit sexual impulses from the time they reach puberty, no one seems to object. When people get too old, they are "Released" into a better state. If twins are born, the smaller of the two will be released. Even careers are not chosen, but rather given to the people of the community by the Elders after careful consideration. When children reach their twelfth year, they are assigned a career to focus on. Although they can request a career change, it doesn't happen. Instead, people are content in the community. They contribute, they live, and they are content. Nothing more. Nothing less.

When Jonas reaches his twelfth year and is assigned, however, it changes everything. Jonas is assigned as the new Receiver of Memory. He is to report to the Giver of Memory, an old man who was chosen as Jonas was chosen, to be given the memories of times forgotten. This includes happy memories, like snow, sledding, warm sun, and fun. It also includes bad memories like pain, breaking an arm, war, and anger. These memories begin to change Jonas, but he is forbidden to share them with others. All he wants to do is show his sister and his friends the colors of the world, the sunshine.

When his father, a Nurturer in the nursery, brings home a baby who isn't sleeping well, Jonas takes him into his bedroom at night and shares the happy memories with him. This soothes the baby, but is strictly forbidden, of course. Jonas and the Giver begin talking about leaving the community in order to give the people back the memories of past times, good and bad. It will be traumatic for them, but The Giver will be there to guide them. When Jonas's father announces the baby is going to be "released", Jonas, who has seen what "releasing" really is, refuses to leave the baby to that fate.

This story is one that will truly rock your world. With so many dystopias swirling around out there, it is hard to imagine one that could sweep you off your feet as easily as this one. Nevertheless, this classic bested me. It makes the reader question their wants, their desires, their hopes. It keeps the reader on their toes and examines what is really important in life. Do we need a life free of pain and suffering? Or will that lead to the loss of all this beautiful, wonderful, and sublime as well. Do we need to experience pain in order to truly know love and happiness when we have it?

This book is a must read for anyone who hasn't read it already. Recently a coworker said she was using it in her middle school Lit class, and I was thrilled! (eerily she told me about using it in her classroom the very same day I finished reading it!) To hand this story over to students, especially in a student-driven setting, means opening the door to struggling readers who can't get enough of a story. This will be that story- it will have them questioning everything they have ever known, and then some. And isn't that why we read anyway? To question ourselves, our worlds, what we know, what we think we want to know, and so much more? Don't be afraid to give this story to your children or students- like my grade school friend, they will never forget it!